Letters to the editor for Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015

Raising minimum wage will hurt seniors

Regarding raising minimum wage to $13 an hour, have you considered you will put more seniors on welfare by this action?

We live on a fixed income earned by hard work and savings. We are 80 and 90 years young. We have been through raising the minimum wage before goods/food/necessities go up. It is a true 20 percent increase, and no increase for the senior fixed income folks. With little or no Social Security increase, we will be struggling to stay above poverty levels. We will need places to go for free food, clothes, goods, and amenities when the minimum wage is increased.

As proud parents, we do not rely on our children for any assistance. But it could happen. We are not a communist country, so let us live out our senior years with dignity.

We can’t stand a 20 percent increase in living. Besides the wage increase, those who get it will only hold them even because they too will be affected by all the 20 percent increases.

All businesses must go up or go under. All businesses will increase prices. In 1952, a McDonald’s hamburger was 50 cents or a special at 39 cents. Look at today!

A movie was 15 cents when I was a young lad. Now it’s more than $10.

My first job in 1940 was at $1 per hour. And I was happy to do it. Yes, I lived at home. But my dad worked 12 hours a day six days a week.

Why raise the entry level?

Chuck Harris

Carson City